Sunday, August 12, 2012

For many of my readers, August means Back to School time for the kiddos...so the #SundaySupper theme for our final installment from Katie Workman's The Mom 100 Cookbook is Easy Back to School Dishes. Since there are no non-feline kids in residence at Casa Garcia, back-to-school isn't something normally on our radar. However, fall is the busiest time of year for me at work...which means that it's a good time for me to have some quick and tasty weeknight dinner recipes in my hip pocket. The last thing I want to do after a long day in the office is come home and cook a complicated dinner! Quick and tasty are my main goals during the workweek. The recipe I'm sharing today certainly qualifies: Fresh Mozzarella Pasta Bake is ready for the oven in about 20 minutes, then it does the rest of the work while you toss together a salad and set the table!

Katie provides a recipe for a simple homemade tomato sauce in her book. However, to save time, I opted to use my go-to jarred sauce: Rao's vodka sauce. It has a touch of cream that added a subtle richness to this dish. This recipe is perfect for busy weeknights: simply add cooked pasta of your choice to the sauce -- I used penne, then add some diced fresh mozzarella and fresh basil before popping into the oven. Since Michael likes extra protein, I added some diced cooked chicken breast before the pasta went into the oven. After 20 minutes, you've got an ooey-gooey pasta dinner that will satisfy everyone at your dinner table. I've yet to meet a person who doesn't LOVE cheesy pasta! Add a simple salad and some crusty bread, and you've got a complete meal in less than an hour!

Fresh Mozzarella Pasta Bake

gently adapted from The Mom 100 Cookbook

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350. Cook a 16-ounce package of pasta in well-salted water until it's just shy of al dente -- about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain the pasta and combine with a 24-ounce jar of pasta sauce. Add 1 cup fresh mozzarella that's been cut into cubes.

Step 2: Add 3/4 lb. cubed cooked chicken breast and stir until all ingredients are evenly combined. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish or 13x9 pan. Chop 4-5 basil leaves and sprinkle on top of casserole.

Step 3: Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the top of the casserole is golden-brown. Let sit for five minutes before serving. Dish into serving bowls and top with more fresh basil and/or grated parmesan.

This simple dish was SO tasty...zesty sauce, gooey melted mozzarella, and a touch of basil in the background! I would've been fine eating this dish without the chicken, but Michael was happy to have the extra bit of protein. This recipe is very versatile too: add in some sauteed mushrooms to keep it veg-friendly, or maybe add some sliced Italian sausages to make it more hearty. The basic framework is the perfect blueprint for improvisation, depending on what's in your kitchen on a given night!For more advice and tips on Back to School dinner planning, I hope you'll take a moment to visit Katie's fabulous Mom 100 website and blog. You'll find tons of ideas for saving time in the kitchen...as well as tons of great family-friendly recipes. If you would like to add The Mom 100 Cookbook to your cookbook collection, you can purchase it via Amazon. It's a great cookbook, full of wonderful easy-to-make recipes that don't sacrifice flavor in the process. Be sure to join the #SundaySupper brunch for a live Twitter chat with author Katie Workman this evening at 700EST. She'll be sharing Back to School recipes during our chat. In the meantime, take a peek at the recipes my fellow #SundaySupper members are sharing this week:Easy Breakfast ideas:

Hey, doll! This is simple goodness...and you can use homemade sauce if you have a go-to one. Now that my life is finally settling down a bit after next weekend in NOLA, let's tag up for lunch before the end of the month!!

Wendy...I am on such an Italian pasta kick lately. But I especially love this pasta bake and how those fresh balls of mozarella are just nestled into the casserole! I am most definitely putting this one on my list! Scrumptious! : )